May 17, 20205 yr 'War of Nerves' is the first real loss for me. It's a beautiful moment in the debut!
May 17, 20205 yr Who on Earth was expecting 'All Hooked Up' to go to #1? It wasn't exactly well-received and the album was already out by that point.
May 17, 20205 yr I gave All Hooked Up a 9? What was I thinking? I must’ve got it confused with another song.
May 17, 20205 yr Feels like time stands still #20. Shaznay Lewis - You | 6.018  Highest Scores: 10: (blacksquare, ElectroBoy), 9: (Spiceboy), Lowest Scores: 0: (Jesty Cough), 2: (Hauspital) At #20 we have Shaznay Lewis's second solo offering "You", released in October 2004 as the 2nd and final single from her debut solo album "Open", & was slightly mixed for its single release which really didn't help matters as it struggled on the UK charts peaking at #56 & along with the album struggling (which only managed a #22 peak), she would later become the final All Saints member to get the chop by her record label leaving plans for a third possible single reportedly "Nasty Boy" cancelled indefinitely. I duuno why she went with this as her follow up single as firstly its way too similar to her previous single but more sombre & this doesn't really give you an idea of the tone of the album, she really should have went with something more upbeat like 'NB' or even 'Dance; either of these may have fared better. As this track stands its a very nice soulful ballad even if it lacks the distinctive gritty edge that she brought to All Saints (the entire album suffers from this). There's simply nothing unique about it, just kinda fades into the background. gOtX7VyC1qc Such an underrated song — whilst not as good as their work with William Orbit, it always struck me as Shaznay trying to recreate that sound with Rick Nowels. Edited May 17, 20205 yr by blacksquare
May 17, 20205 yr Author Jimmy has to ride in your pocket #13. All Saints - Bootie Call | 7.071 Highest Scores: 10: (:'), Spiceboy), 9.5/9: (SamJudd, Chapman, blacksquare, Davidson, JosephStyles, Jay), Lowest Scores: 2: (Shoat), 3: (Scene) At #13 we lose another early All Saints track "Bootie Call", released in August 1998 as the 4th single from their debut album "All Saints" & became another chart success for the group by becoming their 3rd number-one hit & performed well internationally by hitting top 10 peaks in The Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland, & Scotland as well as top 40 peaks in Belgium & Sweden. This made 1998 their most successful year, something which they would never top (but came quite close in '00 with 2 chart toppers). It was a very close battle between this & "WON', in the end this edged out in front by just 2 points. It was probably the infectious lyric "It's A BOO-TAY" is what shot this sassy number straight to the top, that & the chorus & hooks are repeated to the point where it just won't leave your brain, making this quite the ear-worm effect. The confident vocals on this number shows how at ease they are with their R&B sound (although very late 90's sounding). Okay looking back the main hook itself is pretty weak (upon re-listen), but the sultry production & the bass work makes for a pretty fun little moment, a fun time capsule of a time when All Saints's fame was at an all-time high. However they would never quite re-capture this level of fame again. A4LcwjNH7m0
May 18, 20205 yr At #14 is an early All Saints number "War of Nerves", released in November 1998 as the 5th and final single from their Self-Titled debut album & peaked at #7 on the UK charts, making this their 5th top 10 hit & despite peaking lower than the other singles it still managed to sell over 200,000 copies & earning a Silver disc (thanks to the high sales of the X-Mas period). War of Nerves had total sales of 176,714 copies as of October 2006 (157,000 of these were sold by the end of 1998)! It was certified Silver on 27th November 1998, which was only 4 days after its release, due to shipping over 200,000 copies to stores. However its first week sales were 54,000, so it seems the label overestimated the overall demand. Interestingly though, those sales to place at #7 was a higher figure than the 50,714 copies Under the Bridge/Lady Marmalade sold to spend its 2nd week at #1. Funnily enough this wasn't the last time this would happen to them! Parlophone grossly overestimated the demand for Studio 1. That certified gold for over 100,000 units shipped, but its total sales stood at 40,054 in 2016.
May 18, 20205 yr Who on Earth was expecting 'All Hooked Up' to go to #1? It wasn't exactly well-received and the album was already out by that point. It was probably expected because it was a January release, which traditionally was a low selling month in the physical era. In theory it was an easier opportunity to reach #1 with strong fan base sales. According to a Music Week article from the week it entered at #7, Woolworths placed All Hooked Up physicals at #1 on their shelves (which meant they predicted it would be the most in-demand single of the week). To be fair, their chart peaks in order of release were 4-1-1-1-7-1-1 before the release of All Hooked Up, and the third single from their debut album was a big selling #1, so the precedent had been set for All Saints to be strong contenders for #1. In the end it fell rather short: 1- ROLLIN- Limp Bizkit (49,000) 2- TOUCH ME- Rui Da Silva Ft Cassandra (40,000) 3- LOVE DON’T COST A THING- Jennifer Lopez (37,000) 4- EVERYTIME YOU NEED ME- Fragma Ft Maria Ruba (30,000) 5- THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL/ TOO BUSY THINKIN BOUT MY BABY- Steps (28,000) 6- THINGS I’VE SEEN- Spooks (26,000) 7- ALL HOOKED UP- All Saints (26,000) 8- BUCK ROGERS- Feeder (24,000) 9- YOU MAKE ME SICK- Pink (23,000) 10- WHY- Mis-Teeq (21,000) (The 49,487 sales for Rollin was the second lowest weekly sales needed to be #1 in 2001. The lowest was Rollin a week later, with 47,435.) 26,000 was the lowest first week sales All Saints experienced in their 1997-2001 run, so it could be regarded as being an under-performance: 199,084 - #1 - Pure Shores 116,594 - #1 - Bootie Call 106,956 - #1 - Under the Bridge/Lady Marmalade 104,000 - #3 - Never Ever * 60,000 - #1 - Black Coffee 54,000 - #7 - War of Nerves 48,000 - #4 - I Know Where It's At 26,000 - #7 - All Hooked Up * Never Ever didn't reach #1 until its 9th week on sale, selling 54,000 copies to peak there. Music Week noted that War of Nerves sold "marginally more" to reach #7 than Never Ever sold to reach #1.
May 18, 20205 yr Author Together we burned brighter #12. All Saints - This Is A War | 7.24 Highest Scores: 10: (dandy), 9.5/9: (Nick F1, Davidson, Babyboy, JosephStyles, Hauspital, Sarah), Lowest Scores: 3: (Jesty Cough, Beef Curtains), 4: (Tawdry Hepburn) At #12 we finally lose another phase 3 All Saints single with "This Is A War" which was originally released as a promotional single in April 2016 from their 4th studio album "Red Flag", before eventually becoming the 2nd official single in May 2016, alongside a remixes EP released to I-Tunes & Spotify. Described as being cinematic & emotional, the song has a slower tempo than the other 2 releases & lyrically is about choosing your own destiny. Due to a few less rates this actually scored lower than "BC" & "WON", but of course due to these being based on averages, it's placed higher with mainly positive scores consisting of a 10, & lots of 8's & 9's. A definite firm highlight from their wonderful comeback album "Red Flag", where the moody verses contrast beautifully with the bright & confident chorus, with vocals that blends beautifully together, still showing that they have that same spark & magic they had during their heyday. On the whole this track is simply stunning & adds a great flavour to their discography & while this may not be much trouble to the charts, its still like the album's other singles a worthy addition. QmheIhcj8MA Edited May 23, 20205 yr by SamJudd
May 18, 20205 yr This Is a War is so massively underrated. The production, their harmonies, it's absolutely stunning!
May 18, 20205 yr I’m actually more of a fan of their newer stuff.. the older stuff (bar NE, BC, PS) sounds very dated to me.
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